November 2002

StarTek, an established fulfilment company based in the North East, is ramping up its offer to UK customers, and says it aims to become a key player in Britain's business-to-business and business-to-consumer e-fulfilment markets.

The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Denver-based StarTek, which has 5,000 staff and is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The British subsidiary was set up from scratch nine years ago, and now has three bases in the Hartlepool area; but until lately it concentrated solely on UK distribution for clients of its American parent.

That is about to change, says new European general manager Steve Durbin, who has been recruited from consultancy Gartner to lead the initiative. "We aim to be seen as a global outsourcing company," he told e.logistics Magazine.

StarTek offers a range of logistics services including time-critical consolidation, storage, assembly, picking, packing and despatch, plus contact centre management and IT services such as Web hosting and Web design. It has so far concentrated on technology, leisure and media markets, plus Government departments, and considers its forte to be what Durbin calls "sophisticated" fulfilment. This refers to activities such as sales promotions involving consolidation of multiple items within a short timespan.

Durbin says he is confident in a brisk and growing demand for e-fulfilment services. "There won't necessarily be an overall increase in sales, but there's a shift in emphasis, coupled with a globalisation of markets. Few suppliers can cope with all that, except the huge corporates. We're here to help the rest, and we believe that by offering sophisticated systems we can steal a march on the competition."